This is not astronomy
by Wintry Leen
Summary: Because this is us and we are not imagined. SasuSaku. Oneshot. #17. AU. For ssmonth day 11.


**Prompt:** A night with no stars

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way possible.

**Author's Note: **SASUSAKU IS NOT DEAD NOR IMAGINED.

I actually had fun writing this although I must confess that the editing must have been poorly executed because I am hard-pressed by school stuff right now. I hope I was still able to capture their dynamic even though this is AU. Please keep an eye out for my submission for day 17 (monster). [Can also be found on my tumblr.]

* * *

_**This is not astronomy**_

When Sasuke pulled over in front of the hospital she was working at, he saw her already waving enthusiastically at him and before he could even unfasten his seatbelt to get out of the car and meet her, she had already run her way towards the car and he had found her getting inside beaming at him with resplendence.

He looked at her questioningly because she was unusually glowing. He had gotten used to her dusked face and vapid state every time he picked her up that seeing her so animated this time also , he would admit, set his spirits in gentle motion.

"Sasuke, are you busy tonight?" she singsong as she clasped her hands together, looking at him expectantly.

He was the heir to one of the largest companies in their country, so asking that was completely pointless. He knew that Sakura knew that.

"You know the answer to that."

"I know. But I wouldn't have asked if I had not known that you would give a different answer, right?" she curtailed the space between them, still wearing that childish face that would never really affect Sasuke in any manner, no matter how attractively deployed her attempts were.

He quirked an eyebrow at her as he instinctively shrunk back from her invasion of his private space.

"Can we have a picnic now, Sasuke? There, on Konoha plains?"

His expression did not change. If possible, he could have raised his eyebrow a bit higher, but he could not have pulled off such a ridiculous stunt.

"Now? It's nine in the evening, and don't you have an early shift tomorrow?"

"But we need to be there," she pleaded.

He dismissed her and started revving up the engine.

"I can't, Sakura. You know that," he said as he started maneuvering the car towards the main road.

She withdrew from her compromising position and started buckling up her seatbelt. After that, she looked at him and noticed how intent and focused he was on what he was presently doing that it was almost a sign of conclusion for her. This did not deter her, however, and she pressed on.

"Promise, Sasuke, just give me this and you can stop picking me up from my shifts. I won't bother you for weeks. Just give me this, please?"

He shook his head in disbelief. _How could she have not known that she was never an obligation to him?_

He threw her a quick glance.

"It's too sudden. Can't it be moved?"

"But Sasuke I've read from the news that it's gonna be a starry night!" she exclaimed, her excitement getting triggered again.

"And?" he was clueless and uninvolved as always.

"Sasuke, stars!" she half-yelled in exasperation (because why can't he get it…) and anticipation (when she gets it?).

"You're no longer a child, Sakura. You're 23."

Then there was a resounding silence as she shifted in her seat and propped her chin against her palm while staring out the half-tinted window.

"It's not like stars were made only for children," she grumbled.

Sasuke shook his head yet again. _How could she be so manipulative?_

After a few more seconds, Sakura suddenly noticed the familiar route and wheeled around quickly to face him.

"Sasuke?"

"You're acting like a child. I hate it," he said with his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Sakura could only smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

By the time they got to Konoha Plains, it was almost eleven in the evening. Sasuke still tried to convince her that it was too late, but Sakura would have it her way. They decided to just lean against the trunk of Sasuke's car because it was too sudden – Sakura was always spontaneous like fire – that neither of them could have actually brought a blanket to lie down on.

After a few minutes of scanning the night sky, Sakura despaired at her inability to see any cluster of stars. It was a cloudy night, and she started to get upset.

"Why can't I see them?" she blurted out in frustration despite knowing that not even Sasuke would be able to give her a satisfactory answer.

"You can't always expect a forecast to be right. It will rain soon."

She did not want to believe him and stubbornly walked around to wait for the clouds to split and give way to those stars.

Minutes later, and it indeed started raining. Sasuke immediately got inside the car but Sakura refused to budge from her station.

"What the hell are you still doing out there?" he called out from inside the car.

She was just looking up at the sky letting the rain pour down on her face.

"Waiting for the stars."

Sasuke quickly searched for an umbrella inside his car and luckily found one, a merchandise item of their company. He came out and ran pell-mell to Sakura to shield her from the rain pelting against her figure.

"You're annoying," he remarked naturally although this time there was that edge of chiding in his tone.

She just turned to him and chuckled, and he immediately knew it was impractical to sustain his displeasure.

"You could've watched them from your veranda. What's with this elaboration?"

"I want you to see them with me. I feel like it'll mean something," she smiled a little before gazing upward again.

He automatically caught the context; he knew what she was implying.

"We talked about this."

She looked at him once more.

"Yes, and I believed you when you said that we could be on to something," she sighed and looked away again, "but I read from somewhere that some stars we see in the night sky are actually dead stars shining only because of their distance from us. It's like they're there when in reality they're long gone. So I was thinking…"

She trailed off and pursed her lips because even she knew how foolish it was to continue.

Sasuke moved a bit closer to her just so he could have her attention back. When she was alerted of his action, he started.

"_We,"_ he stressed, "are not imagined, if that's what you want to know. We're _here_ because we're here, and whatever we have right now is not dead so stop thinking about dead stars."

She wanted to but she would not shed tears because the rain was stopping. So as always, she just smiled warmly at him, feeling reassured.

He felt a wash of relief when he saw her relax. It was true that there still was no definitiveness to their relationship because the label was absent. However, it had always been a matter of mutual feelings and silent agreements for them, and it felt so natural for him he had not thought about defining their relationship at all.

"Let's get into the car."

She glanced over her soaked figure.

"But I'm – "

He took off his business coat and threw it casually around her shoulders.

"That will do."

And he caught hold of her hand before pulling her along. _Because actions would always signify something beyond what words could._

**…**

**_Fin._**

(I got the concept of stars and imagined relationships from one of our lit class discussions.)


End file.
